Fire chiefs have condemned hoaxers who left parts of Tyneside without cover.

Two Gateshead crews turned out at 11pm yesterday to a 999 call from a call box about a chip pan blaze in Springwell which turned out to be a hoax.

At 2.30am the same crews, together with appliances from Gateshead and Newcastle, were called to a reported blaze in a Gateshead high rise block which was a hoax.

A spokesman said: "For the first call, Gateshead was left without cover. If there had been another incident, crews would have had to come from other areas which would have left their areas without cover.

"For the second call, Gateshead was left without cover and Newcastle lost half if its cover. We strongly condemn these hoaxers. Their actions can potentially cost lives."